Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia Part 4

Tradition has it that on one occasion young Dan Morgan had just arrived in Winchester from the Western settlements on the South Branch--as a driver of a pack for the fur traders. George Washington was ready with his small party to go to the Ohio Country with a message to the French officials not to continue their fort building on English property.

[Ill.u.s.tration:-_Courtesy Virginia State Chamber of Commerce_

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, WINCHESTER, VA.]

Washington's journal gives the following notes: "On Ye 17th day of Ye month of Novemo,--the party consists of one guide and packer, one Indian interpreter, one French interpreter and four gentlemen." We know now that the celebrated Gist was his guide and Vanbraam his interpreter. It is said that Morgan offered his services too as a guide, and was accepted. It was on this perilous trip, perhaps, that each of these young men realized the fine traits of the other.

It was Daniel Morgan who, at the outbreak of the Revolution, marched a hundred men with one wagon of supplies to Boston to report to General Washington. He fought at Quebec and Saratoga and defeated Tarleton at Cowpens. He had charge of Hessian prisoners captured at Saratoga and there are evidences yet of his supervision of construction of stone walls and homes and the mill at Millwood built with prisoner labor.

"Saratoga" is the name he gave his home near Boyce; it was built mainly by the Hessian artisans. On his way to Gettysburg in 1863 General Lee used the fine old house as headquarters. This estate is on the road between Winchester and Boyce and is in full view of the highway.

There is a wealth of amusing tales told about the old city, some dating as far back as its conception; others have to do with the activities of later times.

The story is still heard in Winchester of the time when guests and village loafers were congregated in one of the taverns at the close of a day to discuss weighty topics over their gla.s.ses of ale. From a window they saw an old man get out of his gig, taking with him luggage for overnight accommodation. The gig was comparable to the famed One Horse Shay in its state of near collapse. Comments were pa.s.sed among the group inside as to the man's shabby appearance, his business and ultimate destination. He was soon forgot in the midst of the ensuing conversation between several young lawyers, one of whom remarked that he had heard a sermon delivered which equalled the eloquence and fluency usually reserved to lawyers pleading their cases. This brought forth eventually a heated discussion of the merits of the Christian religion, argued pro and con by those present lasting from six in the evening till eleven.

Finally one young fellow turned to the quiet old traveller. The latter had sat with apparent interest and meekness throughout the five-hour debate and had not joined in. The question was asked, "Well, old gentleman, what's your opinion?"

The reply lasted almost an hour; he answered argument for argument in the exact order in which each had occurred and with the greatest simplicity and dignity. At the conclusion no one spoke for some time. At last inquiry was ventured as to his ident.i.ty. He was Chief Justice John Marshall.

In his _Virginia: A History of the People_ John Esten Cooke relates this story. An Irish laborer and his wife came in 1767 to the lower valley country and stopped at the home of a Mr. and Mrs. Strode, German landowner. For several years they lived with the German family and during the time a son was born. When they decided to push on farther south the Strode children followed, begging that they leave the little boy behind with them. They had become very much attached to the baby and were reluctant to see him go away. The parents naturally refused the request. While stopping for a short rest they placed the baby on the ground and the children would have run off with him if they could.

The family kept its southward course and at last reached the Waxhaws in North Carolina. Here the boy grew up and later his name was familiar to every one--Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States.

The legend may or may not be true, according to Mr. Cooke. But at least there was a clear, cool spring on the Strode farm called "Jackson's Spring."

A pamphlet compiled at Winchester on "What To See and How To See It"

tells us that the town changed hands seventy-six times during the War Between the States. Other sources give a fraction of a smaller figure.

The exact number of times the town was under first Federal then Confederate forces does not matter, but it is well to know that so much of the fighting took place around the neighborhood. More will be said about the Valley warfare later on.

Beginning in November 1861 and continuing until March of the following year General Jackson had his headquarters in Winchester. After finding suitable quarters he sent for his wife who had remained at their home in Lexington, Virginia. Colonel Henderson in his well-known book, _Stonewall Jackson,_ quotes Mrs. Jackson as saying of her stay that Winter:

"The Winchester ladies were amongst the most famous of Virginia housekeepers, and lived in a good deal of old-fashioned elegance and profusion. The old border town had not then changed hands with the conflicting armies, as it was destined to do so many times during the war. Under the rose-colored light in which I viewed everything that winter, it seemed to me that no people could have been more cultivated, attractive, and n.o.ble-hearted. Winchester was rich in happy homes and pleasant people; and the extreme kindness and appreciation shown General Jackson by all bound us to them so closely and warmly that ever after that winter he called the place our 'war home'."

Winchester rightly claims that it is in the "heart of the apple industry," for thousands of acres are devoted to the growing of fine apples. Over a million barrels are harvested annually and at Winchester, we believe, is the largest cold storage apple plant in the world.

Celebrating its crop each year, the city stages an apple blossom festival during the latter part of April or the first of May when the orchards for miles around are filled with the delicately tinted pink blooms. This is a lavish sort of entertainment. A queen is selected to reign over the festivities, her maids are invited from surrounding sections of the country to partic.i.p.ate in the parades and b.a.l.l.s which are given during the days' programs. If you haven't been already, plan to attend an Apple Blossom Festival and see Virginia in one of her prettiest moods--with gay young ladies and bloom-filled orchards.

You know of the "Tom, d.i.c.k and Harry" trio of Winchester and its neighborhood, don't you? They are the world famous Byrd brothers, descendants of the founder of Richmond, Colonel William Byrd of Westover on the James. Tom Byrd is a successful planter and orchardist. Richard Byrd is noted for his polar expeditions; now he is devoting all his energies towards the perpetuation of peace for our country. Harry Byrd was at one time a progressive young Governor of the State and now serves as a Senator in the United States Congress.

The Valley Pike

"Route Eleven" as the road is called from Winchester to Bristol is one of the most historic as well as the most beautiful in all Virginia. It stretches, like a broad silver ribbon, for over three hundred and fifty miles. It begins at the northern end of the Valley, near the Potomac River, and leads one through the fertile Valley, southward and winding ever westward through the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany mountains.

Let us review this famous driveway. Long before the coming of the white men, the Indians followed almost a natural trail, as they journeyed back and forth into the richest hunting grounds known anywhere in all their world. Along it they found the big elk, bear, buffalo, wolves, foxes, wild turkeys and smaller game.

The first pioneers followed this Indian Trail, as they called it. Then, as they developed the country more and more, they brought in horses and oxen. This made a wider road and soon they were rolling their hogsheads of tobacco and grain over it. They carried their products to market in heavy wagons, swapping their wild bees' honey, venison, grain, and hand-woven linen for the precious salt, sugar, iron and lead. Over this road came an ever increasing number of other pioneers to settle near those already living in the rich Valley. They brought their furniture, guns, and families and a most fervent respect for the priceless liberty to be found there. Liberty where one could worship G.o.d as one pleased.

Liberty where one's children could share in the development and in a new country, full of opportunities.

Historians claim that the young George Washington surveyed this road through the Valley. Engineers today say that he did a wonderful work and that they would make a few changes in it. Let us look at some of the famous names of those who lived near or travelled over it. Some of them lived within sight of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains while others visited from one end of it to the other. As one travels near Winchester, he reads the names of John Marshall, George Washington, and General Morgan. From Charlottesville one reads of Patrick Henry visiting Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. There, too, were Lewis and Clarke, men famous in the development of our West, the McCormicks, the Houstons, the Austins and other noted Virginians who went West and settled there.

By now the Road was being called by many names, such as "The Old Indian Trail", "The Great Road", the "Settlers's Road", while still others called it the "Wilderness Road".

Then came peace and prosperity after the French and Indian War and that of the Revolution. Finer horses and carriages were being brought into the Valley and so a better road had to be built. Some thrifty soul suggested having a splendid road which should be maintained by tollgates. And so was built the famous "Valley Pike". This was the pride, not only of the Valley, but of all Virginia and the South.

Interesting stories are told every day, as one travels over this beautiful road, such as that of Charlotte Hillman who kept a tollgate along the Pike. While Sheridan was making his famous raid through the Valley (when he remarked that a crow travelling through the countryside would have to carry a knapsack with provisions for his flight), he came to the tollgate. Charlotte let down the gate and demanded toll from the army before allowing it to pa.s.s. The General and his staff paid the toll but he refused to pay for the entire corps. She lifted the gate but cut a notch on a tree for every ten soldiers who pa.s.sed. At the close of the War she presented the United States Government with a bill--which is said to have been paid in full.

Today Route Eleven is known as the Lee-Jackson Highway, so called in honor of Generals Robert Edward Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson. As you travel through the Great Valley of Virginia may you know more intimately the great men and women who have built not only the Great Valley of Virginia, but who have helped in the making of America. We hope this little book may make you know them and love Virginia more ... and we hope you will come again and again to enjoy the Great Valley of Virginia. Berryville

Long before the County of Clarke was ordered to be carved from Frederick, a town was established called Battletown. This was so called, says tradition, because of the rough and-tumble fights of the gang who met there to drink their ale.

Daniel Morgan, a picturesque character of the Valley, thought he had the right to stop such fights and so he frequently got into the fray. Old records show that Morgan sometimes had to pay a fine "for misbehavior."

But no doubt it was here that he won his strength and learned to out-match the toughs of the neighborhood. Certainly he won a reputation for his prowess, and as a general he won distinction.

The town changed its name in 1798 when it was granted a charter and became Berryville. It was named for its founder Benjamin Berry, who donated the land and when Clark County was formed in 1836, Berryville was chosen as the county seat.

Tradition tells us that George Washington boarded with Captain Charles Smith when he was in the Valley surveying for Lord Fairfax. This home was about a half mile from the present Berryville. His office while in the Valley was a small log building which was used as a spring house for "Soldier's Rest." A cold spring of water flows under the floor of the first room, which is about twelve feet square. George used the room upstairs for his sleeping quarters. It was there he kept his instruments and carefully recorded in his diary his experiences. It was there he made out his reports for Lord Fairfax. Howe, an early historian, tells us about that youth of sixteen. Quoting Bancroft, he writes: "The woods of Virginia sheltered the youthful George Washington, the son of a widow. Born by the side of the Potomac, beneath the roof of a Westmoreland farmer, almost from infancy his lot had been the lot of an orphan. No academy had welcomed him to its shade, no college crowned him with its honors, to read, to write, to cipher--these had been his degrees of knowledge. And now at sixteen years, in quest of an honest maintainance, encountering intolerable toil, cheered onward by being able to write to a boyhood friend, 'Dear Richard, a doubloon is my constant gain every day, and sometimes six pistoles.' He was his own cook, having no spit but a forked stick, no plate but a large chip; roaming over the spurs of the Alleghanies and along the banks of the Shenandoah, alive to nature, among skin-clad savages, with their scalps and rattles, or uncouth emigrants that would never speak English, rarely sleeping in a bed, holding a bear skin a splendid couch, glad of a resting place for a night upon a little hay, straw or fodder ... this stripling surveyor in the woods, with no companion but his unlettered a.s.sociates, and no implements of science but his compa.s.s and chain, contrasted strangely with his fellows. And yet G.o.d had not selected a Newcastle, nor a monarch of the Hapsburg, nor of Hanover, but the Virginia Stripling to give to human affairs and as far as events can depend upon individuals, had placed the rights and destinies of countless millions in the keeping of the widow's son."

While in the Valley of Virginia the young George Washington learned how to tell the age of various trees by the thickness of their bark. The older a tree is, the thicker the bark and it is much rougher and thicker on the north side of the tree. He learned to know the course of the winds and to get to the leeward of his game when out hunting for food or skins. This was done by putting his finger in his mouth and holding it there until it became warm, then holding it high above his head; the side which became cold showed him which way the wind was blowing. He learned that the deer always seeks the sheltered places and the leeward side of the hills. In rainy weather, they keep in the open woods and on the highest grounds. He found that the fur or skins of animals are good in all those months in which an "R" is found in the spelling.

He learned how to track animals, to know the various birds' songs and cries. He watched the hunters build their camp fires and learned how to cook his own game.

Front Royal

As most of us know, Charles II lived in such extravagant style and had such a luxurious court he had difficulty in keeping his bills paid. He was accustomed to resorting to one scheme after another in order to raise revenue. At one time he dreamt of great wealth from the Virginia colony through its tobacco crop--and it did supply him generously with taxes.

Realizing a lucrative business might be established by trading in furs with the Indians, Charles ordered Governor Berkeley to send explorers beyond the mountains. The governor chose a man of whom history records very little. John Lederer was at one time a Franciscan monk. He obviously had leanings towards an adventuresome life. In 1761 he set out for the West, under the compulsion of Governor Berkeley. The party was composed of five Indian guides and a Colonel Catlett. They went through Mana.s.sas Gap in the neighborhood of Front Royal.

The expedition proved a failure because of the unfriendly att.i.tude of the Indians and the roughness of the country. Charles was destined for another disappointment.

White settlers came to Front Royal as early as 1734 and built their little houses in sheltered coves near the Shenandoah. Soon, news of the desirable home sites in the Valley attracted other settlers. Lehewtown was the early name given the settlement.

Rough characters began to find their way here and shootings, brawls and hard drinking were the order of the day--so much so that the place later became known as "h.e.l.ltown." However, it acquired more dignity and order with the years and about 1788 it was incorporated under the name of Front Royal. And why did the town get its double name? There are several existing legends as to the derivation of the town's present name.

The trails from Page and Shenandoah valleys crossed at this point. One account states that the settlers going from one place to another met at a tavern at the crossroads where the Royalist troops were stationed.

Hence ground around the town was a military post. When the sentry on guard called out "Front" and the settlers were not able to give the pa.s.sword "Royal." The name Camp Front Royal was given the post and later it was known by the last two words.

A particularly tragic battle occurred at Front Royal in May, 1862, when the First Maryland Regiment of the Union forces met the First Maryland Regiment of the Confederate Army. It happened when Stonewall Jackson came out suddenly from the Page valley and attacked General Banks' left wing stationed at this town. The Federals were defeated and were driven on through Rivertown where they tried hard to burn the bridges and cut off the Confederate advance. The cavalry of the latter under Ewell saved the bridges which spanned the two branches of the Shenandoah River.

About two weeks later the Confederates themselves burned the bridges, but this was after Jackson had flanked Banks away from the position at Strasburg, followed him to Winchester and won a victory there.